


(Absolutely) Story of a Girl

by Lyv3Wyr3



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Lots of Angst, Love Confessions, Nope. No beta here friend., OOC, Reader is depressed, because once again i dont watch the show, cameron can sing its cannon, depressed!reader, lets see how ooc i can make this character in less than 3000 words, mentions of abusive parents, mentions of self harm, reader is beautiful to jerome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-03-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:33:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23145472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyv3Wyr3/pseuds/Lyv3Wyr3
Summary: (Y/N) sat alone in her bedroom. She stared out of the window at the bright lights that lit up the city once the sun decided to let the moon take over. She sighed. Oh, how she longed to be out there. How she longed to dance with the stars. Maybe if she was up there with them then she wouldn’t be so sad. She pushed herself off her bed and to her window as she placed a hand on the glass. She could run. She could leave the city forever. But honestly what good would it do? How can you run from your problems if they’re all in your head?
Relationships: Jerome Valeska/Reader, Jerome Valeska/You
Kudos: 27





	(Absolutely) Story of a Girl

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Qyrhan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Qyrhan/gifts).



> Uhhh so this is angsty in the beginning. And the middle oof. The song at the end is (Absolutely) Story of a Girl by Nine Days. I'm sorry if the ending is kind of rushed. (God this is so awkward) Please enjoy lol

(Y/N) sat alone in her bedroom. She stared out of the window at the bright lights that lit up the city once the sun decided to let the moon take over. She sighed. Oh, how she longed to be out there. How she longed to dance with the stars. Maybe if she was up there with them then she wouldn’t be so sad. She pushed herself off her bed and to her window as she placed a hand on the glass. She could run. She could leave the city forever. But honestly what good would it do? How can you run from your problems if they’re all in your head?

She lived in a small apartment complex in the bad part of town. Then again was there really a good part of Gotham? Anyways, she had longed for an escape. A way to get away from her mind and the sorry excuse for a life that she had been living. Luckily for her things were about to get interesting. She heard a crash coming from her kitchen. This was strange as she had no animals and lived alone. On top of that, she had locked her door…

She grabbed her bat that she kept beside her bed for safety reasons and began walking out of her room. As she turned the corner to her kitchen she saw the outline of a tallish boy in the dim lighting. A sting of terror ran up her spine. She raised the bat above her head as she crept over to the boy.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” he warned, never even turning to face her. Her eyes opened wide. How had he known she was there? “You’re not the quietest doll,” he said as if he could hear her thoughts. He took a bite of his sandwich and turned to her. Once she got a good look at his face in the moonlight soaking through her window she gasped. Even in the dark, she could see the scars that covered his face. This was him. Jerome Valeska, also known as the joker. And they were alone in her apartment in the middle of the night. No way to call for help, and no way to defend herself because let’s face it, he could easily take the bat from her. 

“What do you want from me,” she asked shakily. Sure it was true that she didn’t particularly fancy living at the moment, but she’d prefer a quick death. And she had a feeling that was not something that this redhead would be into. “I-If you’re going to kill me it’s fine, but please do it quickly.”

The rusty haired boy looked at her curiously. This had to be the first time one of his victims didn’t care if he killed them. The person, who he presumed to be female based on her build, stood shakily in front of him holding the weapon in a batter’s position. Though the lighting was somewhat moody he could still easily spot the cuts that littered her body, slightly raised in some areas due to how fresh they were. He may be a psychopath, but he still felt his heart break a little at the sight of her. “Come into the light doll,” he demanded.

The girl knew that she had better obey him. She stepped into a small patch of light that was shining in from the window. He checked her over once more. Now he could easily see her swollen cheeks and sunken eyes. She looked so… tired. Broken. She reminded him of himself honestly. She also looked to be quite young. 18 at the most. Being only 19 himself he guessed he shouldn’t judge. “Where are your parents?” He asked.

“I ran away from them,” she said with a bitter expression on her face, “I’ve been alone for the last two years,” she thought back to her time spent with her abusive parents. She could handle the words of strangers, but them? Not a chance. To this day she still tears up if someone yells as her. She feels weak because of it, but there’s not really anything she can do for it. Medication and therapy are expensive.

He eyed her. He had planned on killing the person occupying this apartment while he layed low in it for a while, but this girl reminded him too much of himself. He just couldn’t bring himself to hurt someone so broken. He sighed before muttering a string of curses under his breath. “Alright doll, here’s the deal. You’re not going to tell anyone I’m here and I’m not going to slowly and painfully kill you. Sound like a deal?” He asked hoping she’d agree and not be able to tell that he couldn’t hurt her if he tried. He felt bad for threatening her, but he had to keep her from talking. 

She sighed. What did she have to lose at this point? “Okay. Sure. Why not,” She said dismissively. ‘Congratulations (Y/N) you’re going to be murdered in your sleep!’ she thought to herself. She went to go grab an extra blanket and pillow. He grabbed her hand and pulled her back to him.

“Wait a second doll I never asked your name. Would it be okay if I just called you mine?” He asked with a wink. She gave him a small glare.

“Don’t flirt with people if you don’t mean it Mr. Valeska,” she said tiredly. “My name is (Y/N).”

“(Y/N),” he said as if testing the name out, “I like it. And I’ve never liked being called “Mr. Valeska”. Call me Jerome.” She nodded at him as he let go of her wrist. She then went to go retrieve his bedding.    
  
“You can sleep on the couch,” she said handing him her softest blanket. 

“Awe can’t I sleep with you?” He asked giving her his cutest puppy dog eyes.    
  
She halfheartedly glared at him. “Okay new rule Jerome. No flirting with anyone unless you mean it okay?”

“Wow, I like the way my name sounds coming from your lips.”   
  
“What was that?”

“I said okay doll!” He said with a wink. She groaned in annoyance. He was hopeless.

“Goodnight, J,” she said heading in the direction of her bedroom all the while keeping her bat close by.

“Night.”

* * *

After that night the two grew closer. Whenever he would get home at night she would (begrudgingly) dress his wounds. He would flirt with her and she would always say the same thing. Don’t do it unless you mean it. She didn’t like it when people flirted with her because she felt like they were doing it just to make fun of her. With Jerome however, she was starting to believe he actually did mean it. She almost asked him one night but chickened out at the last second. And when he called her pretty? Her self hatred got the better of her. That was the first night that she cried in front of him. She showed him her scars and yelled at him asking him how he could think a chubby scarred loser was pretty. He hugged her tightly and patted her hair. 

“Doll, scars don’t make you ugly. Look at me. I have scars and you still think I’m pretty. And don’t try to deny it. You left your diary open to the page you talked about me one night,” her blood ran cold as she pulled away. She was mad at him for reading her diary, but as soon as he saw anger cross her round face he began to assure her that page was all he read. “I promise,” he said extending his pinky. She linked them together and he smiled a real smile at her.

“You really are pretty (Y/N), battle scars and all,” he said as he brought her arms to his lips and kissed them gently. He took a shaky breath in. She could tell that he wasn’t lying. His showman persona was completely gone at the moment. He turned back to her and looked into her eyes so genuinely that she thought she could die. “(Y/N)...” he began, “Please don’t leave me.” He looked so pretty at that moment. There wasn’t an insane smirk on his face. No hidden intentions. Nothing. The only thing on his face was worry for someone he cared about. He cared about her. She felt her heart skip a few beats. She learned two things that day. One, Jerome Valeska was the most beautiful boy she’d ever seen. Two, she had fallen helplessly for the most beautiful boy she’d ever seen.

That wasn’t the only reason that he had started to grow Despite what you’d think Jerome actually made good company. Sure he was a major showoff and, you know, a psychopathic murderer, but hey at least he was funny. Well… sometimes. It was a cold spring day when they went out together in public for the first time. On that first night that they met Jerome had determined that he was going to make sure she didn’t turn out like him. She was going to have a happy and long life. But for that to happen she couldn’t just stay home and be depressed. She needed sunlight. So, much to her complaint, He forced her to go to a park with him.

Even with how much Jerome tried to make her laugh she found it hard to smile, and even harder to laugh. Honestly, it was rare for her to even have a neutral expression on her face, so that’s why Jerome was so shocked when he first heard it. He thought that he might be hearing things. It was just so… pretty. He couldn’t do anything but stare in awe of how beautiful this girl was when she smiled and laughed. And if he was being honest he would do anything to make her stay that way. 

He felt his cheeks heat up a bit. He found out something that day. One, she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Two, he had fallen helplessly for the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. He decided to laugh along with her and drink his hot chocolate. And if she asked he would blame his red cheeks on the cold.

The second time she laughed had been at their apartment. She had a particularly bad night (he had to hold her and rub her back until she fell asleep) so he decided to make her breakfast in bed. Yeah, that didn’t work out. She woke up to the kitchen a mess and a flour-covered Jerome laying face down on the floor muttering something about women who can cook being the superior species. She lost it. And when Jerome noticed she was there he sat up and began laughing himself (though his laughter was mostly because of how embarrassed he was).

The most recent was his favorite though. They had decided to go to a karaoke restaurant. It was Jerome’s suggestion of course. She didn’t like crowds, and she most definitely didn’t like singing in front of people. Still, she begrudgingly agreed. When they arrived, however, everybody was whispering about them. Things like how Jerome had probably forced her to be there. How she probably needed help. Some about how she was probably paid to be there. That’s when Jerome snapped. He pulled a gun from his pocket and shot a blank at the person who said that. “If I hear one more person whispering about my doll here they are going to regret the day they were born. We clear?” He asked, his menacing look returning to his face. (Y/N) had never seen it before and honestly? Even though she knew he would never hurt her it still scared her. The crowd nodded. 

Though she didn’t like the idea of what he would do to anyone who disobeyed that order she did like the idea of being protected. “Thanks, J,” she said standing on her toes to kiss his cheek. He smiled sweetly at her. 

“No problem,” he led her to a table. “Order whatever you want I’m buying,” before she could object he ran up to the stage. She furrowed her brows upset that he wouldn’t let her pay. It was probably for the best though. She was pretty broke. She turned her attention to the stage as she saw Jerome in his burgundy suit making his way onto it. He took the microphone as scanned the crowd looking for his girl. When he spotted her he smiled. “This song goes out to someone more important to me than anyone in the whole world,” he began as the (h/c) girl blushed, “Can I get some applause for my lovely (Y/N)?” The crowd, knowing better than to ignore his orders, gave a loud round of applause. “She has this thing though. She thinks I don’t mean it when I flirt with her and call her pretty, so tonight I’m going to try to change that. Alright well, I wouldn’t want to keep my sweetheart waiting.” He quickly began playing the beginning of the song on a guitar they had on stage. 

“This is the story of a girl, who cried a river and drowned the whole world,” he sang perfectly. (Y/N)’s jaw dropped. He can sing! Not only that, but he was singing to her… “And though she looks so sad in photographs I absolutely love her…”

“When she smiles,” she sang along as she smiled widely. She had never really thought about this song much, but the fact that Jerome thought of her when he heard it made her feel so… happy. She sang along with him to the end and when he was finished he hopped down from the stage and went straight to her. “Did you like it?” He asked cockily. He already knew the answer. It was so obviously written on her face.

“I loved it,” she said giggling, “It was so sweet.”   
  
“Well, then it’s perfect because you’re sweet and…”

“And?” She asked.

“And…” he leaned down to her level. He tilted her chin up towards him as he slowly leaned in and kissed her softly, his scarred, rough lips caressing her soft ones, “and I love you.” She smiled giddily and pulled him back down to her. 

“I love you too.”

Yes. That was definitely his favorite smile.


End file.
